Former NBA First Overall Pick Joe Smith is Broke, and Alex Rodriguez is Trying to Help Him Get Back on Track

Check out this promo for the CNBC special called “Back in the Game”, a show that pairs former MLB star and successful businessman Alex Rodriguez with former pro athletes to help them get back on solid financial footing. This trailer features former first pick and Maryland basketball star Joe Smith:

Smith—who played in the NBA from 1995 to 2011, averaged 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game over his career—is now in a bad place financially. Even though Joe earned over $61 million dollars during his 16-year career, he now only has $3,000 dollars in the bank.

In the promo, Smith is seen telling Rodriguez “A lot of people think once you sign that contract, you’re just an automatic millionaire. But it doesn’t work like that. Nobody really explained that and broke that down to me, that Uncle Sam, out of that $3 million, Uncle Sam is going to take probably $1.5 (million) of that. That was just something I had to learn.”

From the trailer we can see that AROD is going to help Smith get ‘back in the game’ by hooking him up with his financial planner, who then comes up with a game plan for Smith.

If you’ve watched Broke, then you know this happens all too often with former athletes. The concept of the show definitely looks interesting and who knows how many other athletes are out there hurting financially like Smith is. I look forward to checking out the show on CNBC when it airs.